Fence-post.



, P. T. BAILEY.

FENCE POST. APPLICATION FILED FEB.10, 19:5.

Patented; July Q, 1916.

/fi/VE/VTOR Percg i. 505 3855 By PERCY TRIPP BAILEY, GTE MIDDLETOWN, MODE ISLAND.

FENCE-POST.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 4, 1916.

Application filed February 10, 1915. Serial No. 7,380.

To nil 107mm it may concern 'Be it known that I, Pnncy TQBAILEY. a-

citizen of the United States, and a resident of Middletown, in the county of Newport and State of Rhode Island, haveinvented a new and Improved F ence-Post, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements inposts. and particularly to metallic fence posts, and has for an object the provision of an improved post which in its construction presents an extremely simple, eflicient, strong structure.

Another object in view is to provide a metallic postwhich may be cut out of a sheet of metal and then bent into a proper shape for providing a tapering structure in order that the wire or other fastening material may be properly supported and held in position without danger of sliding or moving under pressure.

In the accompanying drawings-Figure l is a front vieiv of a post embodying the in vention,'the same being shown in position with wires in place; Fig. 2 is an edge view of the structure shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a section through Fig. 1 on line ;-5-3; Fig. 4: is a plan view of a piece of sheet metal and several strips or blanks cut therefrom.

Referring to the amrompanying drawings by numerals, 1 indicates a blank sheet of anctal of any desired kind from which blan s 2, 3 and 4 have been cut. Thcse blanks are all identical in shape, but each alternate blank is reversed, that is, the taper extends in an oppositc direction so that only a small waste is allowed, namely, the mate' rial in the various spaces 5. From an examination of these blanks it will be observed that the same taper from approxii'nately the point (3 to the upper cud T. and also taper in a reverse direction from point (3 to end 8, end 8 being adapted to enter the earth as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. point (3- being designed to be {lush with the ground. \Vhcn point (3 is llush with the ground the wire engaging face of the post tapers as shown in Fig. 2 from the.ground to the top of the post. The taper from point (i to end 8 allows the post to be easily inserted into the grmind and yet provides ample supporting means.

In constructing the blanks, tongues or raised portions 9 are provided on opposite sides. In providing the tongues or raised vfrom a singlc shcct. bcnt so as to are also provided,

portions 9 grooves 10 oi the post being grooves 10 on one side opposite the raised portion 9 on the opposite side. After the blanks have been cut from the metal they are bent until they present a tapering substantially U-shaped structure in cross section as shown in Fig. 3. This completes the-construction of the post. After the post has been placed in the ground as shown in Figs. '1 and 2, the wires 11 forming the fence are caused to engage any of the notches l0 and are tied by suitable tie wires 12 to the post. From Fig. 2'it will be' noted that by reason of the taper of the post and the use of the tie wires 12 r the upper Wires 11 cannot be moi/edits any rial may be readily connected to the post without in any way departing from the spirit of the invention. The grooves or wire receptacles 10 extend from the bottom of the post to the top, and thereby allow the use of wire mesh of any kind as Well as single strands of wire. The roughened or corrugated portion 12 which extends into the ground acts as means for firmly holding the post when it is in use. In the formation oi these posts preferably there are only two (nu-rations, nan'iely, the passing of the shcct nlctal through cutting means, as for instance cutting rollers so as to cut the same in proper shape and then passing these blanks through a bending machine, as for instance tapering bending rollers which act to bcnd the tapering strips or blanks to a tapcring construction Ushaped in cross section. In the opening of the blanks the same are bent so as to produce a taper as shown in Fig. 2, and also a taper as shown in Fig. l.

What I claim is-f 1. A v.t'cnce post co'inprising a body formed appear in cross section substantially U-shaped, the legs of said U-shfaped structure tapering from the top of the post to'the bottom so as 

